*****Report on 1 new thing you tried this year

Name something new (bike-related) you tried this year and describe your experience with it. Maybe you switched from a hybrid to a cf road bike, from platforms to clipless, or from foot-in-a-vice MTBs to foot-on-a-cloud Sidis. Or, you tossed the computer and went solo without numbers and stats to drive you crazy. What's one change you made this year that stands out above the rest?

I'll go first -- we joined a great bike group. They are a fun, funny, great bunch of people who love to ride and to encourage others to ride. We've made new friends, and the new friendships and encouragement have helped me through a very rough year -- it keeps me riding, setting new goals, and looking forward to the next ride together. It's the most fun we've had in years.

Name something new (bike-related) you tried this year and describe your experience with it. Maybe you switched from a hybrid to a cf road bike, from platforms to clipless, or from foot-in-a-vice MTBs to foot-on-a-cloud Sidis. Or, you tossed the computer and went solo without numbers and stats to drive you crazy. What's one change you made this year that stands out above the rest?

I'll go first -- we joined a great bike group. They are a fun, funny, great bunch of people who love to ride and to encourage others to ride. We've made new friends, and the new friendships and encouragement have helped me through a very rough year -- it keeps me riding, setting new goals, and looking forward to the next ride together. It's the most fun we've had in years.

This year I got my first Sidi's. I went clipless. I began riding with my new GF, who promptly got a better bike than me and began dropping me at will. Began "commuting" each morning (actually just a five miler around the neighborhood; I work at home). Began using a bike to get groceries, run to the farmer's market, go to the post office, go to the gym. Bought one new bike (the Globe) and sold one (the Peugeot).

Bought and rode my first folder this spring, a cheap singlespeed Dahon. Took it everywhere, up to Rochester, NY and down to Santa Fe, NM. Beat the crap out of it. Loved it so much I bought a Xootr Swift and ride that, too. It stays up my dorm room at school.

Bought my first pink bike.
First "official" century (vs. solo century with no one watching).
Rode to the summit of Mt. St. Helen's (at least what's left of it...)
Rode to work over 100 times (20 mile round trip, currently 106 commutes year to date).
First 5,000-mile year (currently at 4,800...).
Bought my first bicycle bell (have not yet installed it; it goes on the pink bike, obviously).

In February, I started bicycle commuting for the first time in over 20 years, about a third of the time. In September, I started commuting most of the time (i.e., more than driving). I typically ride all but one day per week (I have off-site meetings on Wednesday and I haven't managed to work out the details of how to do that on bike, at least not yet).

That said, I've been a slug this week; I may only ride to work on Thursday. Monday and Tuesday were a combination of bad weather and having to run errands that made bike riding a little dicey; Wednesday will be meeting day; I can ride Thursday, and I have Friday off (I promise to ride at least twice my commute to make up for Monday and Tuesday. )

I stop for people / whose right of way I honor / but not for no one.

Originally Posted by bragi"However, it's never a good idea to overgeneralize."

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it ws the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way--and I was going there on a fixed gear bike.

Bought my first LED flashlight and bar mount for riding in the dark. One of the 150 Lumen lights with a Cree Q5 emitter off of dealextreme. Really works well, lots of good bright light! Just ordered a 250 Lumen-waiting for it to arrive and see how much brighter it might be.